The Journey Isn’t Over

I’ve got plenty more to write about RVing through Europe, but first let me fill you in on our latest plans.

Since I’ve already blabbed on facebook, it may come as no surprise that we’re headed to…Mexico!

Hey, wait a minute. Didn’t those guys just get back, you wonder? Well, yes. And Vancouver’s been fine for a few months. (Well, as fine as the most expensive city in North America can be for the cash-flow impaired.) Catching up with friends was great—as was our plumbed bathroom and supersonic internet.

So why are we leaving?

Long story short: long-term family travel is addictive.

Don’t get me wrong. We’ve spent a pleasant summer in a sublet here on the UBC campus. The neighborhood is quiet and safe, which means Scout’s been able to go out on her own.

It’s funny. Before we left, I wouldn’t even let the kid walk half a block by herself to drop the DVDs through the Blockbuster slot. But her travels have made Scout competent, resourceful and independent. Over the past year she’s canvassed sprawling European campgrounds on her own and run daily errands for me while we wintered in Turkey. And of course she’s a year older. So now it’s much easier for me to take a free-range approach.

But now that everyone’s rested, it’s time to hit the road again. This time we want to immerse Scout in a foreign language. Also, Mark and I have started a new location-independent business (to be revealed later) that should, fingers crossed, fund our travel habit.

We’re shooting for a complete and permanent lifestyle change.

It was tough to pick a destination, but in the end Mexico fit the bill. Mark preferred somewhere with an easy-to-learn language. We wanted Scout to learn a truly international second language. (She was lobbying hard for Thailand or Turkey; I’ve promised that if she wants, we can head back to either country once she’s fluent in Spanish.) And frankly, the fact that we can drive to Mexico really floats my boat right now. It’s SO much easier to drive—rather than fly—with Archie.

Our travels so far have focused on Europe and SE Asia, so Latin America will be something new and exciting for all three of us.

Most likely we’ll hang our sombreros in central Mexico, south of Guadalajara, but talk of the Yucatan is in the air too. We’ll see where we end up.